Who Will Win the 2022 UK Open?

The UK Open is a major ranking PDC tournament that takes place each year at the Butlins Minehead Resort in England. This tournament is often called the "FA Cup of Darts" because it sees 160 players of differing quality battle it out for the right to be crowned the Champion and claim a cheque that is worth £100,000. The 2022 edition of this prestigious event will take place from the 4th to the 6th of Marsh, and James Wade will look to defend his title that he won by beating Luke Humphries 11-5 in the final last year.

The Format of the 2022 UK Open

Since there are 160 participants, it makes little sense to have them all playing at the same stage. A first round that has 80 matches is one that is going to go on for quite some time. Therefore, players enter the tournament incrementally, with 64 players playing in the first round - these are the qualifiers and the players that are ranked 97th-128th in the PDC Order of Merit. Those who are ranked 65th-96th will receive byes into the Second Round, those who are ranked 33rd-64th will enter in the Third Round, and those ranked 1st to 32nd will enter the competition in the Fourth Round.

The First, Second, and Third Rounds are the best of 11 legs, meaning that the first player to win 6 legs will advance to the next stage of the competition. The loser, just like in football's FA Cup, will be eliminated from the tournament. The Fourth, Fifth, Sixth Rounds and the Quarter-Finals are the best of 19 legs, or the first to 10 legs. The Semi-Finals and the Final are the best of 21 legs, or the first to 11 legs.

Previous Winners

Whenever you are considering betting on sports events, no matter what type of sport it is, it is always a smart move to have a look at some previous winners of the competition. If a player has played well regularly at particular events in the past, then there is a really good chance that they will perform well once again. So, this is the reason why we shall now take some time to look at the UK Open's most successful players.

England's Phil Taylor leads the way with five wins from the six finals that he has appeared in. He won this tournament in 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010, and 2013. Michael van Gerwen and James Wade are next in the list, with three wins apiece from the three finals that they have appeared in. The former won this competition in 2015, 2016, and 2020, while the latter won it in 2008, 2011, and 2021. Raymond van Barneveld is fourth on the list with two UK Open titles to his name from the two final appearances that he made in 2006 and 2007.

Other players that are currently on the circuit and have won this title once are Peter Wright (2017), Gary Anderson (2018), Nathan Aspinall (2019), Adrian Lewis (2014), Roland Scholten (2004), and Robert Thornton (2012).

Who Are the Favourites to Win the 2022 UK Open?

In the table below, you can see the odds that some of the world's best bookies are offering for the outright winner of the 2022 UK Open. There will be 160 players taking part in this competition and, if we are being honest, many of them have no hope of lifting the title, which is why we have just provided you with the odds that are available for 15 players. We really do not want to sound harsh when we tell you that many of the players have no hope of winning, but we like to be truthful when it comes to the predictions that we offer.

A Closer Look at Some players That Have a Chance of Winning the 2022 UK Open

So, in the table above, we took a look at who the bookies have as the favourites to be in with a shout of winning this competition, but we are now going to take a closer look at some of them and provide you with our opinion as to who will lift the trophy on the 6th of March.

Gerwyn Price

Gerwyn Price is the bookmakers' favourite to go ahead and lift the 2022 UK Open trophy, and given the way that he performed in 2021, this will not come as much of a surprise to anyone. In 2021, he won the PDC World Championship and the Grand Slam of Darts, while also making it to the final of the World Grand Prix, and the semi-finals of the UK Open, The Masters, and the PDC World Cup of Darts.

He always turns up at the big darts events, so he is not the type of player that anyone else will relish playing against. In fact, the other main contenders for the title will be hoping that someone else knocks him out before the business end of the tournament is reached.

Peter Wright

When you are contemplating a winner for any darts event, you can never forget about Peter Wright, if he is participating in it, of course. When he is on form, he is almost impossible to stop as can be seen from his wins in the World Matchplay, Players Championship Finals, and the World Series of Darts Finals in 2021 and his PDC World Championship win at the start of 2022.

However, he is one of those players that is either feast or famine. It seems to be that if he does not go on to win a darts event that he finds himself being knocked out early on. This is highlighted by the fact that he was eliminated in the First Round of the 2021 World Grand Prix and European Championship, and was knocked out in the Fourth Round of the 2021 UK Open and the Third Round of the 2021 PDC World Championship.

His main challengers for the title will be hoping that it is more famine than feast for the Scotsman this time around.

Jonny Clayton

Anybody who has been watching darts these last few years will not be at all surprised to see that Jonny Clayton is one of the main favourites to lift the title. He was on fire in 2021, picking up the trophy in the World Grand Prix, The Masters, the Premier League of Darts, and the World Series of Darts Finals. He also made it to the semi-final of the World Cup of Darts and the Players Championship Finals.

He was knocked out in the Fourth Round of the PDC World Championship at the start of 2022, but it is quite a rare occasion lately that he gets knocked out before the Quarter-Finals and the Semi-Finals. It is safe to say that his main opponents for the title will be hoping that he is eliminated early on, so that they do not have the uphill task of getting past him.

Michael van Gerwen

Even if you do not know much about the world of darts, we are pretty sure that you will have heard of Michael van Gerwen as he is one of the best players in the history of the sport. He is ranked the number three in the world at the moment, but from 2014 until 2021, he was ranked as the number one player in the world.

2021 was the leanest year of his career, there is no doubt about that. In fact, it was the first year since 2012 that he went a whole season without winning a single title. He made it to the semi-finals of the UK Open, World Matchplay, the Premier League of Darts, and the Championship League, but that was as far as he went. Despite his slim pickings in 2021, nobody will be taking him lightly, knowing that if he turns it on, he has more than enough talent to go on and win the 2022 UK Open.

Michael Smith

Michael Smith is yet to win a major PDC title, but everyone who has seen him play has seen plenty of potential in him, and feel that it is only a matter of time before he goes on to win one. To date, he has been the runner-up at the World Championship in 2019 and 2022, The Masters in 2020, the Premier League in 2018, and the World Matchplay in 2019. He will be hoping that the 2022 UK Open is the tournament where he finally goes all of the way.

Although he is yet to win a major PDC ranking title, it is fair to say that none of his potential opponents will be taking him lightly during the 2022 UK Open. They will be well aware of the fact that if they do not turn up then it is very likely that he will turn them over and eliminate them from the competition.

Joe Cullen

Joe Cullen has been playing darts since 2006, and he managed to win his maiden PDC Pro Tour in 2017, and then five years later he won the 2022 Masters, which is the first televised event that he has won. While he has not won much throughout his career, often being eliminated early on in competitions, it is fair to say that his win at the 2022 Masters showcases just how much talent he has.

We do not think that many darts fans will be putting their money on him to win, but we definitely would not be too surprised if he went on a bit of a run and ended up going deep into the competition. If he plays to the best of his ability, then we are pretty sure that he can cause a good number of upsets against some more fancied players.

Who Would We Bet on?

At the start of a tournament such as the UK Open it is never easy to predict the player that will go on to lift the trophy and claim the top prize money. There are plenty of great players who will fancy their odds of winning, but if you decide to opt for the likes of Price, Wright, Gerwyn, or van Gerwen then you will always be giving yourself a great chance of landing a win.

So, if we had €10 on the winner of the 2022 UK Open, who would we spend it on? Well, Clayton has been the player in form over the last year or so, and we have a feeling that he will go on to win this title. So, our prediction for the 2022 UK Open is Clayton to win.